Pacci’s Neapolitan Pizzeria Silver Spring, MD
Pizza and technology often make for the perfect team! While driving just outside of Washington DC this weekend, I googled, “Best Pizza in Silver Spring” and noticed that just about every link took me to “Pacci’s Neapoliton Pizzeria”. Using my handy dandy phone GPS, I quickly pulled up to what would become one of my new favorite pizzerias! Within minutes, technology had led me to a place known to have great pizza and even recommended what to order! If my father even knew how to work these devices, he’d be so proud of this moment.
You can’t help but notice the beautiful wood fired brick oven that stands directly in front of the entrance. This narrow but trendily decorated restaurant is adorned with nice wine racks and smells like a slice of heaven. Two nice patios adorned with palm trees feed off of this main brick and yellow painted dining room.
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Slice of Olde Towne Pizza Gaithersburg, MD
The problem with free opinion sites like Google Reviews is that friends of the owner can anonymously give glowing reviews when the food is horrible. Many times you will encounter the same type of reviews on sites like Yelp and UrbanSpoon. Such is the case for the “Slice of Olde Towne” in Gaithersburg. With reviews like “Best pizza of the town” out there around the web, I naturally made the assumption that it would be tasty even if its customers didn’t quite have a grasp of grammar. One supposed customer even claimed that it was the best pizza in Montgomery County. Clearly this guy gets his slices of pizza @ 7-11 and has never heard of “Pizza CS”, “Mia’s”, or 98.3% of the other pizzerias in the county. Please do not judge our county by this pizza place.
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Oro Pomodoro Pizza Rockville, MD
Just across from the library at Rockville’s busy “Town Center”, you’ll find “Oro Pomodoro”. This place prides itself on serving authentic Italian food including Maryland’s first VPN (Verace Pizza Napoletana) certified pizza. On the surface, it sounds right with San Marzano tomatoes, caputo flour, and buffalo mozzarella baked in a 900 degree wood fired brick oven. The taste, however, doesn’t match these high expectations. In fact, I would only rank Oro Pomodoro to be the 3rd best pizza in Rockville (Pizza CS, Matchbox)
One clue as to how this pizza doesn’t reach VPN expectations comes from it’s disregard for basil on the Margharita pizza. The sauce and cheese were perfectly proportioned, but unlike their website photos showing basil over half the pizza, mine had only a single small leaf. The crust was another area of concern as it was closer to a fast food textured crust than a brick oven one. Once again, the ingredients were right but the preparation and proportionality were not up to VPN quality.
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Trattoria Lombardi’s Pizza Ocean City, MD
For over 34 years, “Trattoria Lombardi’s” has been spinning out some of the best old school pizzas in the Mid-Atlantic. This family run restaurant in Ocean City, Maryland may have decorations and recipes out of the late 1970s but the place smells great and more importantly tastes great!
As you walk in from a day at the beach, you can’t help but catch the amazing aroma that fills the air at Lombardi’s. At first glance, you almost feel like you’ve entered the bar on “Cheers” and yet Norm is nowhere to be found. Coincidentally, I’m fairly certain that if I ever lived in Ocean City, I’d be there until everybody knew my name. This place is definitely a favorite of the locals!
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Pupatella Neopolitan Pizzeria and Friggitoria
On the recommendations of a friend and a few best pizza lists, My wife and I checked out Pupatella in Arlington, VA. Just outside DC, this authentic VPN (Verace Pizza Napoleta) and DOC certified casual restaurant has been said to pop out some of the best pies in town! With humble beginnings as a pizza cart at a nearby metro station, Pupatella had made a lot of fans before its doors even opened in mid 2010.
Going in I wasn’t sure what a Friggitoria was, but I now assume it’s because this food is “friggin” amazing. This oak wood fired pizzeria has an oven made from the ashes of Mt Vesuvius. At 1000 degrees, five pies at a time are cooked for one minute each until they reach a perfect char on each pliable delicious crust. Ingredients are first rate with their heirloom San Marzano tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella imported from Naples. I must admit that I almost didn’t even have enough space to order some pies after filling my stomach with their amazing Arancini from their Friggitoria menu. These fried risotto balls are stuffed with sausage or eggplant and absolutely blew away the “supply y telephono” risotto balls I’ve had at other great restaurants in the area. Nonetheless, I had to try the pies and ordered a red and a white.
These 12 inch pizzas had the best crusts I’ve found in DC. They were perfectly charred yet bendable without spilling. The DOC and VPN certified Margherita pizza had delicious tomatoes and cheese and was topped with basil. Unlike other top area pizzerias, the basil seemed to be cooked onto the pie rather than added after it came out of the oven which took a tiny bit of kick from it. This is the only thing that keeps me from putting this in the same class with the areas 4 best Neopolitan pie sauces, Seventh Hill, 2 Amys, Pizza CS, and Mia’s. It was darned close though! The incredible crust, however, was better than any of these places. The white Spinach pizza was covered in an Italian cream, pine nuts, feta, and red pepper. It was fresh and tasty but not quite as good as the tomato sauce based pie in my opinion.
Pupatella is a casual dining experience. Each diner grabs their own utensils, picks their own table, orders at a counter, drinks from a bottled soda, beer, or wine, and clears their own table. No reservations are accepted so expect a wait if you come during peak hours. Believe me though, it’s worth the wait!
